November

But Aphrodite to the house of ZeusBeing bound, bade beckon out her milkwhite steeds,Four doves, that ready to her royal useIn golden cages stood and peck'd the seeds:Best of the nimble air's high-sailing folkThat wore with pride the marking of her yoke,And cooed in envy of her gentle needs.

These drew in turn her chariot, when in stateAlong the heaven with all her train she fared;And oft in journeying to the skiey gateOf Zeus's palace high their flight had dared,Which darkest vapour and thick glooms enshroudAbove all else in the perpetual cloud,Wherethro' to mount again they stood prepared,

Sleeking their feathers, by her shining car;The same Hephæstos wrought for her, when he,Bruised in his hideous fall from heaven afar,Was nursed by Thetis, and Eurynomè,The daughter of the ever-refluent main;With whom he dwelt till he grew sound again,Down in a hollow cave beside the sea:

And them for kindness done was prompt to serve,Forging them brooches rich in make and mode,Earrings, and supple chains of jointed curve,And other trinkets, while he there abode:And none of gods or men knew of his home,But they two only; and the salt sea-foamTo and fro past his cavern ever flow'd.

'Twas then he wrought this work within the cave,Emboss'd with rich design, a moonèd car;And when return'd to heaven to Venus gave,In form imagined like her crescent star;Which circling nearest earth, maketh at nightTo wakeful mortal men shadow and lightAlone of all the stars in heaven that are.

Two slender wheels it had, with fretted tiresOf biting adamant, to take firm holdOf cloud or ether; and their whirling firesThrew off the air in halo where they roll'd:And either nave that round the axle turn'dA ruby was, whose steady crimson burn'dBetwixt the twin speed-mingling fans of gold.

Thereon the naked goddess mounting, shookThe reins; whereat the doves their wings outspread,And rising high their flight to heaven they took:And all the birds, that in those courts were bred,Of her broad eaves the nested families,Sparrows and swallows, join'd their companiesAwhile and twitter'd to her overhead.

But onward she with fading tracks of flameSped swiftly, till she reacht her journey's end:And when within the house of Zeus she came,She pray'd the Sire of Heaven that he would lendHermes, the Argus-slayer, for her hest;And he being granted her at her request,She went forthwith to seek him and to send.

Who happ'd within the palace then to waitUpon the almighty pleasure; and her taleWas quickly told, and he made answer straightThat he would find the truant without fail;Asking the goddess by what signs her slaveMight best be known, and what the price she gaveFor capture, or admitted for the bail.

All which he took his silver stile to writeIn letters large upon a waxed board;Her age and name, her colour, face and height,Her home, and parentage, and the reward:And then read o'er as 'twas to be proclaim'd.And she took oath to give the price she named,Without demur, when Psyche was restored.

Then on his head he closely set his capWith earèd wings erect, and o'er his kneeHe cross'd each foot in turn to prove the strapThat bound his wingèd sandals, and shook freeHis chlamys, and gat up, and in his handTaking his fair white-ribbon'd herald's wand,Lept forth on air, accoutred cap-a-pè.

And piloting along the mid-day sky,Held southward, till the narrow map of CreteLay like a fleck in azure 'neath his eye;When down he came, and as an eagle fleetDrops in some combe, then checks his headlong stoopWith wide-flung wing, wheeling in level swoopTo strike the bleating quarry with his feet,

Thus he alighted; and in every townIn all the isle before the close of dayHad cried the message, which he carried down,Of Psyche, Aphrodite's runaway;That whosoever found the same and caught,And by such time unto her temple brought,To him the goddess would this guerdon pay:

Which now was on all tongues, and Psyche's nameHerself o'erheard, or ever nigh she cameTo Aphrodite's temple where she hied.

When since she found her way to heaven was safe,She only wisht to make it soon and sure;Nor fear'd to meet the goddess in her chafe,So she her self-surrender might secure,And not be given of other for the price;Nor was there need of any artificeHer once resplendent beauty to obscure.

For now so changed she was by heavy woe,That for the little likeness that she boreTo her description she was fear'd to goWithin the fane; and when she stood beforeThe priestess, scarce coud she with oath persuadeThat she was Psyche, the renownèd maid,Whom men had left the temple to adore.

But when to Hermes she was shown and given,He took no doubt, but eager to be quit,And proud of speed, return'd with her to heaven,And left her with the proclamation writ,Hung at her neck, the board with letters large,At Aphrodite's gate with those in charge;And up whence first he came made haste to flit.

But hapless Psyche fell, for so it chanced,To moody SYNETHEA'S care, the oneOf Aphrodite's train whom she advancedTo try the work abandon'd by her son.Who by perpetual presence made ill endOf good or bad; though she coud both amend,And merit praise for work by her begun.

But she to better thought her heart had shut,And proved she had a spite beyond compare:Nor coud the keenest taunts her anger glut,Which she when sour'd was never wont to spare:And now she mock'd at Psyche's shame and grief,As only she might do, and to her chiefAlong the courtyard dragg'd her by the hair.

Nor now was Aphrodite kinder grown:Having her hated rival in her power,She laught for joy, and in triumphant toneBade her a merry welcome to her bower:''Tis fit indeed daughters-in-law should waitUpon their mothers; but thou comest late,Psyche; I lookt for thee before this hour.

'And yet,' thus gave she rein to jeer and gibe,'Forgive me if I held thee negligent,Or if accustom'd vanity ascribeAn honour to myself that was not meant.Thy lover is it, who so dearly prizedThe pretty soul, then left her and despised?To him more like thy heavenward steps were bent:

'Nor without reason: Zeus, I tell thee, swoon'dTo hear the story of the drop of oil,The revelation and the ghastly wound:My merriment is but my fear's recoil.But if my son was unkind, thou shalt seeHow kind a goddess can his mother beTo bring thy tainted honour clear of soil.'

And so, to match her promise with her mirth,Two of her ministers she call'd in ken,That work the melancholy of the earth;MERIMNA that with care perplexes, whenThe hearts of mortals have the gods forgot,And LYPÈ, that her sorrow spares them not,When mortals have forgot their fellow men.

These, like twin sharks that in a fair ship's wakeSwim constant, showing 'bove the water blueTheir shearing fins, and hasty ravin makeOf overthrow or offal, so these twoOn Aphrodite's passing follow hard;And now she offer'd to their glut's regardSweet Psyche, with command their wont to do.

But in what secret chamber their foul taskThese soul-tormentors plied, or what their skill,Pity of tender nature may not ask,Nor poet stain his rhyme with such an ill.But they at last themselves turn'd from their rack,Weary of cruelty, and led her back,Saying that further torture were to kill.

Then when the goddess saw her, more she mockt'Art thou the woman of the earth,' she said,'That hast in sorceries mine Eros lockt,And stood thyself for worship in my stead?Looking that I should pity thee, or careFor what illicit offspring thou may'st bear;Or let thee to that god my son be wed?

'I know thy trick; and thou art one of themWho steal love's favour in the gentle way,Wearing submission for a diadem,Patience and suffering for thy rich array:Thou wilt be modest, kind, implicit, soTo rest thy wily spirit out of showThat it may leap the livelier into play:

'Devout at doing nothing, if so beThe grace become thee well; but active yetAbove all others be there none to seeThy business, and thine eager face asweat.Lo! I will prove thy talent: thou may'st live,And all that thou desirest will I give,If thou perform the task which I shall set.'

She took her then aside, and bade her heedA heap of grains piled high upon the floor,Millet and mustard, hemp and poppy seed,And fern-bloom's undistinguishable spore,All kinds of pulse, of grasses, and of spice,Clover and linseed, rape, and corn, and rice,Dodder, and sesame, and many more.

'Sort me these seeds' she said; 'it now is night,I will return at morning; if I findThat thou hast separated all aright,Each grain from other grain after its kind,And set them in unmingl'd heaps apart,Then shall thy wish be granted to thine heart.Whereat she turn'd, and closed the door behind.